Ezra 10

Now while Ezra was praying, and while he was confessing, weeping, and bowing down before the house of God, a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept very bitterly. And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, spoke up and said to Ezra, "We have trespassed against our God, and have taken pagan wives from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope in Israel in spite of this. Now therefore, let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them, according to the advice of my master and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. Arise, for this matter is your responsibility. We also are with you. Be of good courage, and do it."

(Ezr 10:1-4)

I love passages like this. It starts with one man, one man who is broken before God… and it spreads rapidly to a LARGE group of people. Look at what Ezra is doing… He is praying primarily, but while he prays he is engaged in three other things: Confession, weeping, and bowing down. As Ezra confessed his sin he was broken hearted and began to weep. He wept over his own sins, and the sins of his people. He realized how awful they were in the eyes of God. He then bowed himself before the Lord, symbolic of his reverence and Godly fear. Ezra was putting himself in the proper place before the Lord.

I love this… He didn’t go on a campaign to stamp out sin, or condemn those around him, he carried these things to the Lord. If Ezra had gone to these people caught up in sin and attacked them for their sin, I don’t think they would have responded the same way. When they saw Ezra, they broke… they recognized how evil their actions were in God’s sight, and they joined Ezra.

When was the last time you were broken over the sinfulness of the world we live in? If you want to be effective in your witness for Christ, it must begin with brokenness… the brokenness we see here led to revival; maybe we can see revival if we will be broken like Ezra was.